Camp Pendleton: San Onofre 1

Our view of the ocean is beautiful and we enjoy the neighborhood and school. But the management office is awful.
I am a lead manager for commercial and residential property, so my opinion on how this branch is run is truly from personal experience, not only as one of their tenants but also as a business professional. And let’s just say I would fire my employees for the various mismanaged issues that arise from this office.
First, we give up $4,400/month of our BAH to live here. While our view of the ocean is gorgeous it’s not worth $4,400 for a company to ignore the cosmetic qualities of a property and offer piss poor management. I shouldn’t be embarrassed to invite company over because the cabinetry, countertops and appliances fall significantly below anything we could rent out in town for $4,400. Not saying these properties need granite, but their faux granite paint job on the counters, that has noticeably missed areas because appliances were never moved during the process, is awful. Including the fact we are using outdated kitchen appliances and can’t even get a sprayer for our kitchen sinks.
Second, the management itself is embarrassing. On the day of our move in we had a very quick inspection compared to what I would consider thorough. The lack of detail in the office’s initial report findings was embarrassing and I highly suggest further training on items that need to be looked at and tested.
For example, during my move in inspections I personally turn on all faucets, verify proper drainage, flush toilets, open doors and windows, and take pictures of any cosmetic deficiencies, etc. Not this office.. I had to point out various things once the inspection was done, some items of which have never been addressed further. We were also told at the inspection they do a black light test of the carpets, but on the day of the inspection they didn’t have the black light so we scheduled to meet an individual at the property the following day (a window time frame was given as we were not living in the area yet), and I sat at the property for the agreed upon amount of time for no one to show up nor call. Unfortunately, I couldn’t wait any longer and had to leave to get back to where we were staying for an appointment. Management never reached back out to us to reschedule or provide a reason as to the missed appointment.
Third, today I was very disheartened by the organization of the annual inspection. I also have my company conduct these in the spring and fall and they run smoothly. Lincoln posted the required 48 hour notice but failed to provide an estimated window of time we could expect the technicians to come by. While that is not legally required, the tenant moral that this simple organization technique builds is priceless and cuts down substantially on tenant frustration. I called the office to ask if they had an approximate time they planned on making it by and I was told any time today during their normal business hours (8 am to 5:30 pm). I challenged this concept as we have a pet that would need to be moved for maintenance and expecting tenants to take an entire day off for this event and/or purchase a crate is ridiculous. I asked if they were inspecting San O 1, 2 and 3 today which she said no, so I continued to ask how and why time frames were not applicable if they are conducting inspections in small sections at a time. To which I was told couldn’t happen for 1,200+ units, though the office admitted that all 1,200+ weren’t being done today. Ultimately, I’d chalk that up to a manager that is not able to coordinate with maintenance, lacks the ability to mass organize, or just doesn’t care about inconveniencing tenants.

Besides the events listed we haven’t dealt with management on any other issues. But I frequently read in the San Onofre groups on social media the absolute disgust and hatred many of the tenants have for the Lincoln San Onofre office.
For example, this week multiple houses are to be fumigated and some of those families didn’t receive the gift cards for their hotel stay until a day or two before the scheduled fumigation.. not great business practice, especially for the families that have their service members deploying that day and asked to reschedule and also couldn’t find hotels that accepted their pets with that short of notice once their gift cards were received.
On top of that, multiple other tenants complain about getting entry notices but no one ever showing up, management posting notices on the garage doors but not following up with an automated call and/or email (which is an issue in a neighborhood full of kids that do things like take down paper notices not knowing what they are and/or the wind catching them and pulling them off, etc. so at times tenants have no clue entry is happening), filthy and disgusting homes upon move in, the list can go on.

I strongly suggest someone on the district level come spend time in this office and make appropriate policy/management changes as well as reiterate the importance of tenant satisfaction. Unfortunately, many current tenants try and advise potential future tenants against moving into San O due to management. The San O office does not have a great reputation among military word of mouth.. The rest of us have no clue what we moved in to and are exhausted from constantly moving, so packing up and moving at the end of our 6 month lease is just one more transition that takes its toll on us, our resources, and kids all due to the poor quality of the housing management.

These homes are older but I still loved living here! I wake up and see the ocean every day!

Close to the Beach, Great Schools, Great Community. This is by far one of the best neighborhoods aboard Camp Pendleton. This is THE BEST schooling for your kids. We're right on the Orange County & San Diego County border.

The beach is five minutes away. We're three minutes away from multi million dollar homes. My kids can walk to school.

It's really expensive to live here and unless your Marine is stationed up North, the drive to get to your location will most likely be a long one.

San O officer housing are single story, 4br 2ba, 1 car garage homes. 1500 sq feet, on the older side. While they are on the smaller side, the layout is great and you'll fit in it just fine. There's a large laundry room, a galley style kitchen and a fenced in yard. The sunset views of the Pacific Ocean are outstanding!

San Onofre 1 2 3 housing are amazing. Onofre1 is older town homes and single story homes goes up to 5 bedroom. The neighborhood is quiet and very taken care of. The elementary school is walking distance no matter where you live in San Onofre 1 that was a plus. You also have beach access too and the beach is beautiful and quite. Lincoln military housing would do give aways for holidays and different functions for the family to get together too. There is a community pool and club house with a gym.